Liberals dug Canada into debt hole

Re: “Programs support kids in crisis situations,” Jan. 8. The letter-writer supports the federal Liberal government’s $50-million additional donation to the Education Cannot Wait charity, which supports children’s education when in crisis. No doubt this charity, as with many others throughout the world, is worthy of support.

The issue is that the government of Canada has not got $50 million to donate. It has a significant deficit, and projections are that it will continue to have a significant deficit for years in the future if the Liberals are returned to power.

The deficit, incurred in the past three years since the Liberals came to power, comes at a time when the Canadian, and indeed the world, economy has had significant growth. It should have been a time to use surplus revenues for debt reduction and, yes, international donations to worthy causes.

Instead, we created a debt that will take years to pay off.

The old adage of “when in a hole, quit digging” is very much at play here.

Governments should not be able to make these types of donations when they do not have the money to do so.

While charitable giving should be a part of any individual’s and government’s mandate, it should be possible only when the funding is there. This could be accomplished by eliminating government waste in many other areas. Just follow the news articles; there is plenty of waste in this country. Paul Larkin Sidney